Seniors and sexual assault

Diana Swain spoke to Eva Shirdan (left), who was told by hospital staff that her elderly mother was believed to have been sexually assaulted while she was a patient at a southern Ontario hospital. (CBC News)

Journalism is a science and professional activity that, in general terms, consists of the collection and periodic treatment of information in any of its forms and varieties.

As a discipline, journalism is generally located within the communication sciences, although in some countries it is ascribed to sociology.

Likewise, it is considered that often, in journalism, the story you just told is not the one you started to analyze. In fact, good journalists are open to the idea that as they gather more data, the image that emerges may be different from what they originally thought it could be. Sometimes, what they discover leads them to focus on a totally unexpected aspect.

Sudden change

As already mentioned, usually in journalism, the story you just told is not the one you started to analyze and sometimes what you discover leads you to focus on a totally unexpected aspect. Now, there are disturbing signs that the #MeToo movement may have left older women behind, according to CBC Senior Research Editor, Diana Swain.

In this way, a story emerges that dates back to the end of last year, where Swain spoke with a woman who had a disturbing history. The hospital administrators had told Eva Shirdan that they believed that her elderly mother had been sexually assaulted while she was a patient at her facility in southern Ontario.

As a result, the personal care worker (PSW) who was accused was fired and accused of sexually assaulting several elderly patients. The story initially raised questions about the role of PSWs in hospitals and long-term care homes.

An important story, However, when he began to investigate, it was something else that Shirdan said in the first conversation in which he could not stop thinking.

In this way, Shirdan’s mother and another elderly patient who insisted that he was not allowed to return to his room, died before the trial date. The Crown withdrew the sexual assault charges in part because of the age and fragility of the remaining alleged victims.